Aug 13. The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has prepared a list of federal fields, a source at the ministry said. The source explained that on Wednesday or Thursday the list could be forwarded for approval by the various related agencies and then submitted to the government. "I believe it could be approved in about six weeks", the source added. According to the source, the list will include a total of nearly 2,000 fields. Hydrocarbons account for around 200 fields out of this amount, with nearly 160 inland fields and 40 offshore. The source went on to say that a license to tap the West Kamchatka shelf could also be included in the list which was previously held by Rosneft. The license expired on August 1 and Rosnedra's commission opted not to extend it, since the company had violated license terms. The source explained that all offshore blocks will be classified as strategically important. However, blocks covered by exploration activities have been listed so far. "There are no clear-cut rules for blocks yet. For example, if the Federal Subsoil Use Agency (Rosnedra) imposes the requirement of two sq km, there will be thousands of such blocks, while if the area is set at 20,000 sq km, there will be very few such blocks", the source noted.